By Dan Pearson

In an effort to neutralize the carbon footprint of entrepreneur Mitsushige Hayashi’s Hokkaido newspaper business, and to lure Japanese city dwellers back to the land, British horticulturist and landscape designer Dan Pearson was asked to create an elaborate park in the 240-hectare Tokachi Millennium Forest. Both on site and in its reflective book, Tokachi Millennium Forest, Pearson bridges the gap between the human experience and the natural world. Within the landscape’s dynamic grasslands and native plants, amongst the unfettering backdrop of the Hidaka mountain range, the park invites gardeners, naturalists, and commonfolk to take a break from a world of technology and disconnect, and to hone presence and balance.